This content was originally published by Radio Free Asia, and it is now being reprinted with permission.
Takeshi Iwaya, a visiting Chinese official, stated that his administration intended to show Donald Trump how crucial the South China Sea concern is to maintaining peace in Asia.
Iwaya traveled to Manila on Wednesday as part of Tokyo’s well-known political campaign in the region’s proper canal. Last year,  , Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba , traveled to Malaysia and Indonesia to encourage deeper protection and financial relationships.
In Manila, Foreign Minister Iwaya met with his Filipino rival, Enrique Manalo.
Iwaya stated in a press briefing that overlapping claims in the South China Sea “is a genuine problem for the global community because it directly relates to regional peace and stability.”
Because Southeast Asia is a proper tilt in the Indo-Pacific and a global development center, partnering with Southeast Asia is essential for regional peace and stability, Iwaya said through an interpreter.
” We will communicate to the incoming U.S. administration that the United States ‘ constructive support of this region is crucial, as well as for the United States itself.”
The South China Sea has recently turned into one of the most hazardous geopolitical hot spots, which is likely mineral-rich and a vital corridor for international shipping. China claims about the whole lake while the Philippines, as well as Brunei, Vietnam, Malaysia, and Taiwan have overlapping promises to sections of it.
Manila and Beijing have engaged in high-stakes brawls in the contested waters over the past several decades.
Iwaya stated that he would try to bolster a multilateral agreement that the Philippines and Japan forged with the departing Biden presidency by attending Trump’s inauguration in Washington on January 20.
Iwaya reaffirmed that Tokyo” highly opposes any attempt to arbitrarily change the status quo by force” in the South China Sea, where an extremely strong China has been encroaching into the country’s unique economic zone.
China has maintained its claim to the sea area, claiming that its coast guard ships ‘ patrols there were legitimate and “fully determined.”
Foreign and Philippine officials were scheduled to examine their disagreement at their most recent intergovernmental meeting on Thursday in the Chinese city of Xiamen, according to Manalo, the country’s top diplomat.
Both factors are likely to explore new developments in the lake, including the presence of China’s biggest coast guard ship – and the , world’s largest , – at the contested Scarborough Shoal.
During the media briefing on Wednesday, Manalo said that Manila and Tokyo had made” major leaps” in defense and security assistance.
Tokyo is in a distinct regional issue from Beijing in the East China Sea, despite the fact that Japan does not have regional says that coincide with China’s wide people in the South China Sea.
” As relatives, we face similar obstacles in our common pursuit of local peace and stability. In response to the Indo-Pacific region’s changing geopolitical landscape, we are collaborating to improve endurance and strengthen dynamic capacity, Manalo said.
Last month, the Philippine Senate ratified a so-called , Reciprocal Access Agreement , (RAA ) with Japan, allowing the two allied nations to deploy troops on each other’s soil for military exercises.
Outgoing U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris stressed the need for the two countries to continue cooperating after the presidential election and “in the experience of threats from the People’s Republic of China” in an return phone call to Marcos on Wednesday.
She stated in an a  speech that Washington “must have with the Philippines in the face of such actions and the persistent character of the United States ‘ security pledges to the Philippines.”
Marcos and Harris had forged a trustful partnership and traveled extensively during her presidency. In November 2022, the British vice president  , visited , Palawan, the Spanish area on the front of Manila’s territorial dispute with Beijing in the South China Sea.
A 1951 Mutual Defense Treaty, which calls on both countries to come to each other’s assistance in the event of an adversity by a third party, provides for the United States and the Philippines.
In the event of an military assault “anywhere in the South China Sea,” the Biden administration has stated that it will assist the Philippines in its defense.
